FAQs for Public

These FAQs will hopefully answer many of the questions that you might have about the National Vascular Registry (NVR). If you have additional queries, please contact the NVR team on nvr@rcseng.ac.uk.

What is the NVR?

The NVR is the National Vascular Registry. It is a national clinical audit commissioned by the Health Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) to measure the quality of care for patients who undergo vascular surgery in NHS hospitals, and was formed in January 2013.

The NVR is part of the National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programme (NCAPOP). There are a number of national clinical audits within NCAPOP. Each one collects data on the care received by different groups of patients and provides local NHS trusts with reports on their practice and performance.

What is clinical audit?

Clinical audit is a tool used by clinicians and other hospital staff to monitor the care given to patients. It produces information that helps hospitals to ensure patients receive the right treatment from the right person in the right way.

In a clinical audit, information on the care given to patients is collected and analysed to see whether hospitals are following clinical standards (such as those published by the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)) and whether the outcomes of care are in line with those achieved by other hospitals.

Who is running the NVR?

The NVR was formed by the amalgamation of the NVD and UK Carotid Interventions Audit projects. These projects had been used by vascular surgical services in the UK to monitor their practice and outcomes since 2005, and were part of a broad quality improvement programme undertaken by the Vascular Society of Great Britain and Ireland in collaboration with other organisations.


The Vascular Society will continue its quality improvement activities using the NVR. It is running the NVR with the Clinical Effectiveness Unit of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

Further information can be found on the Vascular Society website.

Who takes part in the audit?

NHS hospitals in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are participating in the National Vascular Registry. Any NHS consultant or hospital that undertakes vascular surgery or interventional radiology in the UK is eligible to take part in the audit.